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Spain’s Rafael Nadal celebrates his victory
against Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych during
their men’s singles match on day seven of the
Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne
on January 20, 2019. (Photo by William WEST /
AFP) /
Rampant Rafael Nadal battered ex-world number
four Tomas Berdych Sunday but said he would be
taking a step into the unknown against
“dangerous” Frances Tiafoe in the Australian
Open quarter-finals.
The Spanish 17-time Grand Slam winner
dismissed the unseeded Czech 6-0, 6-1, 7-6 (7/4)
to tear into the last eight without dropping a
tournament set.
Next in the firing line for Nadal is gianspam blocked by adminilling
American Tiafoe — who celebrated his 21st
birthday in style Sunday by beating 20th seed
Grigor Dimitrov.
“It’s going to be the first time that we play each
other. Yeah, he’s playing great,” he said of 39th-
ranked Tiafoe who created one of the shocks of
the tournament by knocking out fifth seed Kevin
Anderson in the first round.
“I know him, of course. He’s been on the tour for
a while. He’s young. When you have younger
players coming, they have always more
attention.”
Tiafoe, whose best previous Slam result was
reaching the third round of Wimbledon last year,
warmed up for Melbourne by partnering Serena
Williams in the mixed teams Hopman Cup.
“He’s a very dynamic player, aggressive one. Of
course, he’s dangerous,” said Nadal.
“He’s in the quarter-finals. He won great matches
during the whole event. He’s super quick. And
he’s able to change directions fast.
“He goes to the net fast. He has a huge forehand,
good serve. So let’s see.”
A shell-shocked Berdych finally exerted some
pressure on the 17-time Grand Slam champion in
the third set, holding set points in the ninth and
11th games.
But the Czech missed five months last year with a
back injury.
– Clock alarm –
Nadal, who also missed chunks of last season
and had foot surgery after the US Open, had won
19 of the pair’s 24 previous meetings.
As he served at 5-4 in the breaker, Berdych let
his frustration get the better of him when the
serve clock mysteriously packed up.
“I don’t see (the clock) when we change over and
I don’t see now,” Berdych moaned to the umpire
about the finicky Spaniard being too slow
between points.
“Take as long as you want, Rafa,” shouted one
fan.
Berdych dismissed the incident after. “It was not
working,” he said of the clock. “I think it’s already
done. What can we do? It’s all right. It’s just a
clock.”
Nadal, who is aiming to become the first man in
the Open era to win all four Slams twice if he can
add to his 2009 Aussie crown, said Berdych
finally came to the party after winning just one
point in the first two sets and gave him a test.
“I think the third set was the real Tomas
Berdych,” Nadal said after reaching his 11th
Australian Open quarter-final. “He made more
mistakes than usual in the first two sets.”
The 33-year-old Berdych agreed. “The first two
sets it was me back before six months. For the
third set, I finally showed up on the court, so
that’s good,” said the world number 57.
“That’s the only positive I can take from the
match. That’s it.”
Source:
guardian.ng/sport/nadal-wary-of-
dangerous-gianspam blocked by adminiller-tiafoe-after-berdych-rout/